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Original poster

AIBU about Owen Jones

172 replies

PickyParent · 18/08/2017 21:51

During a discussion about neo-Nazis and alt-right in the US today, my MIL started ranting on about a journalist called Owen Jones, who is allegedly part of alt-right, is an anti-feminist, Corbynista, hysterical, storms off in huffs on tv, and is a general twat.

I had not come across this chap at all, despite reading a broad cross-section of media and being quite well-informed and up to date (and I try to have an open mind on things except Trump and neoNazis)

So I googled him and can't find anything really awful about him (I don't object to him supporting Corbyn).
Am I being obtuse?
Is MIL right?
Am IBU? Hmm

OP posts:
BeyondQueenOfLists · 18/08/2017 22:25

Yy to brocialist.

PigletWasPoohsFriend · 18/08/2017 22:26

I don't like him, but he certainly isnt alt-right.

Papafran · 18/08/2017 22:28

My biggest objection to him is his youth. How dare anyone be that clever and successful while still looking about 15?

Relax, he is actually 33, he just looks 12.

NauticalDisaster · 18/08/2017 22:30

He's a bellend and a wanker but definitely not alt-right.

fruitlovingmonkey · 18/08/2017 22:31

He is a general twat, she's right about that.
Not just anti- feminist but anti- women kind of the same thing, or is it?

Nightshirt · 18/08/2017 22:32

I like him

DorisDangleberry · 18/08/2017 22:34

He wrote some article in the Grauniad recently that proclaimed that those looking to set up a centrist party were part of an establishment plot to bring down Corbyn. Because clearly if you are not a Corbynista, you are a swivel eyed loon.

squoosh · 18/08/2017 22:36

Yeah I read that Doris, all beware those terrifying centre ground people!

UsedToBeAPaxmanFan · 18/08/2017 22:36

I don't agree with everything he says but he can't be accused of being alt-right.

I don't think he is slavishly pro Corbyn. He is left wing though.

Original poster
PickyParent · 18/08/2017 22:36

Thanks everyone!!

I will be honest now and say that my MIL is a racist bigoted right-wing sheep who reads Murdoch press and spends too much time watching rolling news on tv. She loves Michael Gove, Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson.

I am a socialist. Not totally convinced about Corbyn or the Labour Party at the moment (I stopped voting Labour when Blair did his thing) but I do know that the Tory party is not one I could ever support. I don't mind who runs the country as long as we all get an equal go at life and noone is disadvantaged as a result of colour/sex/ability/nationality/sexuality. The stuff in the US at the moment is deeply worrying and I do see more and more of those trends being copied here. I am white British but half my family is from another European country and if I feel uncomfortable about whether I belong here, then how must it be for all those immigrants, refugees, migrant workers, etc etc. My heart aches for them all.

My politically-literate teenager had also not come across Owen Jones. Mind you, he is being somewhat trampled mentally by MIL's rantings and DH's pro-Tory views (DH is quite level headed and is more of an economic Conservative)

We were discussing alt-right as being different from fascist in that they seem to have much more extreme and rather alternative ideas, it's not just about rich getting richer and fuck the rest of us, its about actual hatred and despising (fear??) of socialism and a need to rid the world of everyone who believes in it. I think they're scarier than the fascists/neoNazis/KKK because we don't really understand their agenda and apparently operate on the Dark Net, which is rather an unknown quantity to most of us (and ignorance does lead to fear)

MIL tends to lump anything/anyone of which she doesn't approve in with a recognised group that's universally disliked - she honestly didn't see the irony of Jones being alt-right and a Corbynista! she also voted for UKIP in the European elections

I shall look out for him on tv, thanks for putting me straight on him

OP posts:
PickAChew · 18/08/2017 22:37

He'd probably faint if someone suggested to him that he was part of Alt Right :o

LoveMySituation · 18/08/2017 22:37

He has a great cat!

AIBU about Owen Jones
Original poster
PickyParent · 18/08/2017 22:42

Aha! Alex Jones looks like just her kinda guy!

I don't think she confused them (she mentioned Owen Jones writing for the Guardian) but I bet she's got Alex on speed-dial GrinGrin

OP posts:
DorisDangleberry · 18/08/2017 22:43

It's a shame as the article I posted about above did have some valid points, but he then loses his audience proclaiming that centrists are right wing loons.

Sadly we live in polarised times where nuances are lost in shouting about how each side are a bunch of twats.

LoveMySituation · 18/08/2017 22:44

OP, he has a YouTube channel I am subscribed with lots of videos of him responding to viewers comments, and interviewing people. Some of the videos feature his cat, Keir who I'm not obsessed with

squoosh · 18/08/2017 22:44

Alec Jones is truly the scum of the earth. He's the guy who claimed the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax and that the grieving parents were in fact actors.

LoveMySituation · 18/08/2017 22:48

That's awful squoosh, surely that would be illegal somehow?

AccrualIntentions · 18/08/2017 22:51

He's not alt-right in the slightest. He does however seem like a right cock. His Chavs book was interesting, but it all seems to have gone downhill since then and he's now essentially just a media mouthpiece for Seamus Milne.

Original poster
PickyParent · 18/08/2017 22:51

Squoosh yep he's perfect for MIL. She spent an hour last week explaining to my kids about Diana being murdered by Royal Family henchmen because she was about to marry a Muslim (and was pregnant with his baby) and how she didn't actually care about the land mine victims, she only got into that campaign because it would piss off the military members of the Royal Family.....

I was ConfusedShockConfusedShock while overhearing that conversation (and yes I did try to explain to the kids about watching too much US drama tv)

OP posts:
squoosh · 18/08/2017 23:01

LoveMySituation I think in America the right to freedom of speech is pretty absolute. People can say whatever shit they want it seems!

squoosh · 18/08/2017 23:02

His Chavs book was interesting, but it all seems to have gone downhill since then and he's now essentially just a media mouthpiece for Seamus Milne.

Yeah that's how I view him too.

Jux · 18/08/2017 23:10

He is a bit twattish in the way that so many teens are when they know they're really really clever but actually they know nothing - because they're still only 15. Only he's not 15 and should have grown out of it by now.

He also doesn't like being interrupted.

WhollyFather · 18/08/2017 23:10

Owen Jones is a right-on lefty, a PC know-nothing who writes for the Guardian.

Sounds like your MIL is either confusing or conflating him with US broadcaster and noted rightist nutjob Alex Jones.

LassWiTheDelicateAir · 18/08/2017 23:14

Owen Jones is a right-on lefty, a PC know-nothing who writes for the Guardian

Pithy and accurate.

TwistedReach · 18/08/2017 23:15

Im intrigued- what party do all you Owen Jones haters vote for?

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